GENERAL COUNSEL ROUTE TO THE TOP IN

NORTH AMERICA

SEPTEMBER 2014

METHODOLOGY � Russell Reynolds Associates initiated a detailed review of the career path of General Counsel (GC) at Fortune 100 companies.

� Our analysis explored the dynamics of each GC’s appointment to their current role (e.g., Was s/he promoted internally or externally?).

� Our analysis also explored the leadership roles or specified expertise to which each individual had gained exposure across the course of their career (e.g., Had s/he ever held a senior leadership position in compliance? Had s/he ever had M&A experience?).

� In assessing each individual’s exposure to specific job experiences, we provided “credit” for an experience only if the individual had clearly held a prominent leadership role in a specific area or had specified expertise in their legal background.

� Career experiences were assessed based on thorough reviews of both public and proprietary databases.

� In total, our analysis includes profiles of 99 GCs at Fortune 100 companies; the overarching dataset includes more than 4,000 data points.

� This presentation includes select results from the first stage of our analysis.

AVERAGE AGE AND TENURE � Recent appointments are younger, by an average of four years.

� Women tend to be appointed at a younger age with an average age of 46, while the male average age is 51.

AVERAGE AGE

TENURE AT COMPANY

Gender

At Time of Appointment KEY POINTS � In Asia, GCs tend to be much younger,

with the mean current age being 47 years old and the mean age when appointed being 40 years old. This is a result of a rapidly expanding economy.

TotalFortune

1-50Fortune 51-100

Appointed within Last 3 Years

Appointed before Last 3 Years

Age 56 56 55 53 57 57 52 57 55

Age at Appointment 50 51 49 51 49 51 46 52 49

Female 23% 18% 28% 24% 23% N/A N/A 15% 28%

Ethnic Diversity 11% 12% 10% 15% 9% 9% 18% 17% 8%

External vs. Internal Fortune 100

46 YearsFemale

51 YearsMale

49 YearsInternal

52 YearsExternal

50 Years 51 Years 49 Years

FORTUNE 100

FORTUNE 1-50

FORTUNE 51-100

3YEARS

LAST 9YEARS

Appointment in Last 3 Years

3YEARS

BEFORELAST

16YEARS

Appointment before Last 3 Years

Source: Russell Reynolds Knowledge Management analysis.

FORTUNE 51-100

FORTUNE 51-100

FORTUNE 1-50

FORTUNE 1-50

GENDER AND EDUCATION � Internal promotions lean toward female candidates more strongly than external appointments.

� Gender diversity has not changed much in recent years, although ethnic diversity is on the rise.

� External hiring has accelerated over the years. Appointments of GCs externally hired in last three years were at 39%, while appointments before three years ago were at 35%.

� Notably, when we looked at GCs from listed companies on the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong and the Straits Times Index in Singapore, the number of female GCs was twice that of the percentage found within the Fortune 100.

GENDER DIVERSITY

EDUCATION

FORTUNE

100

FORTUNE

100

Top 25 Law School

74%62%

68%

23%

18%28%

United States

Asia

23%

46%

77%

54%

Over two-thirds of sitting GCs graduated from top-tier law programs. The Fortune 50 had a higher percentage compared with the next 50. Men in an F100 GC seat are more likely to have a top-tier law degree. Overall, the emphasis on top-tier law degrees has decreased over the last three years.

Source: Russell Reynolds Knowledge Management analysis.

INDUSTRY, PRIOR ROLE AND INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE

INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE

IMMEDIATE PRIOR ROLE

NONE

Outside Current Company

� About one-third of sitting GCs have worked at another corporation in the same industry as their current company. Of those, the majority have worked within the industry exclusively.

� One-third of sitting GCs have no experience at another corporation within the same industry but spent the majority of their career learning the industry at their current employer.

� About one-third of sitting GCs have no experience working within the industry.69%

Additionally, External hiring is up, hiring experienced GCs laterally is up and hiring from law firms is down.Men are appointed more often but the proportion of

female external appointments is two times that of female internal appointments, pointing to the use of external hiring to increase diversity in executive teams.

INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE

Of the Fortune 300, 15% of General Counsel have had prior international experience. That breaks down into two categories: those who have held positions located overseas (8%) and those who have held responsibility for overseas revenue lines but were seated in domestic headquarters (7%).

15%

Their expertise leans heavily toward Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Some have held responsibility for multiple regions.

The Fortune 50 hire externally far more often than the Fortune 51-100.

FORTUNE 1-50

TotalFortune

1-50Fortune 51-100

Appointed within Last 3 Years

Appointed before Last 3 Years

External Appointment 37% 44% 30% 39% 35% 85% 15% 100% N/A

Role Immediately Prior to Current General Counsel Role

Assistant/Associate/ Deputy GC 42% 42% 43% 44% 42% 46% 32% 17% 57%

General Counsel 11% 10% 12% 19% 8% 13% 5% 31% N/ALaw Firm 14% 15% 14% 9% 17% 16% 9% 39% N/A

EMEA

61%AMERICAS

25% ASIA

18%

INTERNATIONAL (UNSPECIFIED)

9%

Source: Russell Reynolds Knowledge Management analysis.